OM-7 Beaumont
Reviewed by:
Tsolum_Head, on september 29, 2006 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 259.91

Purchased from: Grumpy Guitar Place

Features: My OM-7 is a 2005 dreadnought orchestra model made in Indonesia with a solid Cedar top, Indian rosewood sides and "three" piece Indian rosewood back, ebony bridge and finger board, mahogany neck. The tuners are nickel grover series, and eight ply white binding around the body and neck with beautiful abalone inlay around the sound hole. // 9

Sound: I play everything from bluegrass to Floyd and really enjoy the warmth that comes from this guitar. I was specifically looking for a cedar/Indian rosewood combination when I went shoppingfor a budget guitar. I lucked out because the Cedar had wide grains, which gives extra rich tone and man this guitar delivers. The sustain is nothing short of amazing. I can bend it like my Les Paul and get plenty of sustained richness for way longer than my buddies Hummingbird. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action is incredibly easy on the sausages. The points that take away from an exceptional budget guitar is the obviously spliced head stock/neck. The three piece back is actually made up out of 7 pieces, probably scrap pieces. The frets are solid, but the edges seem to be hardly filed. // 7

Reliability & Durability: reliability & durability dept. The finish is beautiful. In the long term the only thing I would worry about is when it has to be refretted. The white binding will be a nast ho, but by that point I may well own a different accoustic. Perfectly at home in front of a crowd. // 9

Overall Impression: I might tear up if I lost this accoustic, because it suits my eclectic style very well. Whether I'm playing blues (the guitar begs to play blues), or bluegrass or plain old rock, this guitar plays it all with unrivaled tone and sustain in its own price range and even guitars 4x the price. // 10

I played the acoustic-electric version of this same guitar. It's basically the same thing. It was amazing; the strings just glided off your fingers for finger picking, and it was loud as anything--there's lots of resonance in there. The cedar wood is amazing too. It gives you sort of a toss-up on the deepness of rosewood and the brightness of maple to quote the guy at the guitar shop.

Agree with all of the above. The only thing that bothered me was that it started to get a pronounced bellying/bridge rotation. Have just fitted a full Bridge Doctor®. It has controlled the bellying (I take it that cedar is maybe a little more prone to it), but has improved the general depth/sustain. I was bowled over. Love it even more now.